Australia's Brickworks tumbles as full-year earnings plunge

France Nouvelles Nouvelles

Shares of Australia's Brickworks fell nearly 12% on Thursday to emerge as the top loser on the benchmark index, after the building materials maker posted a 32% drop in earnings amid rampant labour shortages and a raw materials crunch. The building materials maker and property developer's full-year underlying net profit after tax came in at A$508 million ($323.55 million), down from A$746 million a year ago. 'Operations in both Australia and North America were impacted by significant labour and raw materials cost increases, and this resulted in lower margins,' Brickworks said in a statement.